VA is stepping up its services for female veterans

“About 1.8 million women have served in the U.S. military, and with 245,000 female soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s estimated that within a decade, women will make up 16 percent of all veterans.

Yet until recently, some health clinics for veterans did not have separate bathrooms for women. Some doctors who treat returning service members haven’t kept up with medical advances on issues from sexual trauma to prosthetics to menopause. Some Veterans Affairs computers still spit out data mistaking female veterans for wives of men who fought.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is turning its resources to women as the government braces for an increasing demand for services from female veterans.

On Wednesday, clinicians, benefits experts, VA leaders and veterans from across the country discussed the department’s stepped-up efforts and the need to do more for women.

“We are late, and the surge in women veterans has begun and will continue,” Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki told the crowd of 175 gathered at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. “Time is not on our side.”

The retired four-star general and former Army chief of staff has made increasing services for women a top priority, securing $217 million in gender-specific programs for the next fiscal year, a 21 percent increase from 2009. The increased investment is aimed at providing better care and more privacy and security for female patients…”

AWV Store

AWV Gear Store

Donate to AWV

Veterans Crisis Line & Chat

AWV Facebook Posts

"A lot of people, when they think of the military, they’re not necessarily thinking of hurricane response in Florida and Texas and Puerto Rico, or wildfires, or snowstorms, when often, the National Guard is called up for immediate recovery and response. So, we want to show a different side of the military. A lot of people are familiar with the negatives that come along with serving, but not necessarily the positives. We just want to get the facts out there and sort of balance that scale and fix some of the misperceptions that exist out there today." ... See MoreSee Less